Automatic guard for glass-casting tables.



c. L. SMITH. AUTOMATIC GUARD FOR GLASS CASTING TABLES.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.27,1915.

- Patented May 23,1916.

WITNESSES:

Wdew

ATTORNEY THE COLUMDlA PLANOGRAPH (10.. WASHINGTON, D,

UNITE STATES PATENT .FFICE.

CARLTON I1. SMITH, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO THE SAGINAW PLATEGLASS COMPANY, OF SAGINAW, MICHIGAN, A CORPORATION OF MICHIGAN.

AUTOMATIC GUARD FOR GLASS-CASTING- TABLES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 23, 1916.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, CARLTON L. SMITH, acitizen of the United States, residing at Saginaw, in the county ofSaginaw and State of Michigan, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Guards for Glass-Casting Tables; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to whichit appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to improvements in machines used in themanufacture of plate glass and pertains to glass-casting machines of thetype that comprises a casting table upon which the molten glass ispoured, a roller adapted to travel over the table to roll the moltenglass into a fiat plate, and a leer or annealing oven, into which theplate is slid from the top of the table.

My improvement relates more specifically to a device employed in castingmachines of the type mentioned, and known in the art as a gun, that isto say, a device whereby the mass of molten glass flowing in front ofthe roller and traveling along with it is prevented from spreading toofar sidewlse and running ofl the edge of the table.

My invention comprises an improved construction of the gun, and deviceswhereby the gun, after traveling the length of the table in front of-theroller is automatically raised clear of the glass plate, permitting theplate, tobe slid or stowed into the leer as soon as the rolling of thesheetis completed. Lifting'the gun ofi:' the table at the end of eachrolling, as has heretofore been common, is thereby rendered unnecessary.

By making it unnecessary to lift the gun ofl thetable by hand at eachrolling, lmportant advantages are attained, namely, the operations ofcasting, rolling and stowing the plate into the leer are facilitated andsafety to the operators is assured.

As is well known, the roller commonly employed is of great weight,usually several tons. It is usually rolled along the table by means ofheavy winding chains operated by power. The roller exerts enormousforce, in fact, sufficient to crush an arm or the body of an operator ifhe becomes caught between the'roller and the table.

' Slightly inclined ways called horns are usually provided at the frontor leer end of the table, and the roller, when itapproaches the end ofits travel, rolls up on these horns, IlSlIlg sutiiciently high to clearthe sheet of glass which may then be stowed into the leer by passingbeneath the roller. The gun, which usually consists of a verticallydisposed plate of steel shaped at its rear edge to fit the periphery ofthe roller, is pushed forward by the roller as it moves to the front.The gun retains the wave of molten glass that travels ahead of'theroller, preventing the glass from flowing over the trangs and the edgesof the table. The gun also guides the glass to form straight edges onthe finished sheet.

It is obvious that the gun is needed to perform the functions justmentioned during the forward travel of the roller; but when the end ofthe sheet is approached and before the roller starts up the incline ofthe horns the gun must be taken away. The time available in practice forthe removal of the gun by hand is very short, and the quick removal ofthe gun has been accomplished by the operator who was obliged to stoopunder the roller-actuating chain, pick the gun up by inserting a hook ina hole provided in the gun near its top, while seizing the forward endof the gun, and then lifting it clear of the roller and table. An expertwas required for this work, because the gun and operator must be clearof the moving roller and chain before the roller started up the inclineof the horna very dangerous operation; Therefore, to overcome theseobjections and to do away with the necessity of removing the gun byhand, my present improvement is devised.

My invention permits the gun to remain in contact with the roller clearto the end of travel of the roller, but toward the end of the travel,the gun, still in contact with the roller automatically rises clear ofthe glass, to permit stowing, and the gun does not have to be removed byhand. Moreover the gun performs its proper function of retaining andcontrolling the glass clear to the end of the rolling.

With these and other objects in view which will appear later in thespecification, my invention consists in the devices described andclaimed and the equivalents thereof.

In the drawings, Figure l is a side View,

broken away in part, showing a casting table with the roller, gun andhorn in place.

Fig. 2 is a rear end elevation of the casting table and roller. Fig. 3is a perspective view of my improved form of gun and of the tiltingplateby which the gun is automatically lifted after the rolling of the sheetis completed, in order to clearthe glass sheet.

Fig. 4 is an end view of the tilting plate and its support. 7 1

1 represents the usual casting table and 2 the slip table, which is acontinuation of the casting table and connects the casting table to theleer, not'shown.

v .3 is the roller and 4 is one of the iusual pair of horns, upon whichthe roller rests at the end ofitstravel. V p 5is one of a pair ofwinding chains secured atone end to the roller 3 and passing around asuitable sheave 6 at the end of the table.

- In Fig. 1 the initial position of the roller '3' is shown, in fulllines, and its position after the rollingis completed is indicated bydotted lines.

7, 7 is a pair of flat bars or tracks termed in the art trangs, uponwhich the roller 3 travels, the thickness of the trangs gaging thedesired thickness of the sheet of glass. The gun Sis formed of a plateof steel having .ajforward extension carrying a channel shapedshoe 9that fits loosely over the trang'7- and serves as a guide for the front-=of the roller.

gun while'the gun is being pushed along in In applying my improvement, Isecure a) the upper part'of thegun by riveting or otherwise, a thrustplate,fbracket or equivalent bearing member 10 offset laterally from theplaneof the gun 8. The rearedge of the bracket, as well as the rear edgeof the two "contact points take the thrust'ofthe rollenj The gun isthereby'maintained in itslvertical position even after 'theshoe 9 haspassedbeyon'd the trang 7 and is no longer guided by the t'rangj7, for apurpose which will now be explained.

indicatedby the arrow'in Fig.1.

When the roller 3 is moving up the horns 4 to the raised positionindicatedj'by dotted lines in Fig. 1, my improvement enables the gun tobe automatically lifted a suflicient height above the table to permitthe sheet of. glass to. befstowed; or slid across the slip table 2 intothe leer in the direction means by which the gunis automatically liftedis indicated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4,where- 12 is a tiltable platelocated atthev siderof the casting table and in the pathof travel of the gun, theplate '12 being preferably mounted on asuitable bracket 13, or itshousing of the table 1.

The

equivalent, carried the side frame or The tiltable plate12 preferablyhas'its i edge nearest the roller beveled to snugly fit the surface ofthe casting table. The plate is tiltably supported at a point 12 abovethe path of travel of the glass and is bal- V,

anced so that its beveled edgev normallyrests on the surface of thetable 1, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 1.

In operation, the roller 3 moving up the I inclined horn 4 pushes thegun 8 before it. The shoe 9 of thegun travels beyondithe end of thetrang 7 and slides up the inclined 7 7 plate 12 and the upright positionof the gun and its proper direction of travel are 'maintained by "thealinement secured by the,

double contact of the upper part ofthe gun and of the thrust plate 10with the periphery of the cylindrical roller as previ' ously described.

To enable-the gun to easlly slide up the inclined plate 12 I prefer toslightly bevel or round the rear edge ofthe shoe 9, as at 14..

WVhile the roller travels up the horn incline 4the gun 8 and thetiltable plate as.- V

sume a horizontal position above. the table 1, as indicated at 15 inFig. 1. 'Whe'n'the roller, gun and tiltableplateare in. this p01 sitionthe sheet of glass may be slid for: ward or stowed into the. leer.

may then be returnedto its original position at theback'end of the tableand the gun and tiltable plate automatically return to their inclinedposition '12; The gun may after- The roller ion ward be slid backalongthe trang 7 :to its 7 11 initial position against the roller,'andthe table is ready to re'ceive'another charge :of molten glass. 7 Bythis device the quality of glass'is i-msequently there is no"liabilityflof threads of molten glass adhering to the gun and beingpicked up with it and deposited on thesur- "face of the tr'angs 7, ashas" heretofore f frequentlybeenthe case. It is obvious that V a threadof glass, if deposited on the sur-v face of the trang' will lift theroller,' c ausing a ridge or roller mark to be formed on proved, becauseit .is' notl'necessaryto remove'the gun durlng each rollmg and contheplate; "I reduce this liability, it being unnecessary with mydevice'to'removefthe gun by lifting it .ofi" 'sidewise'as heretofore.

Some molten glassis saved'byusing my device, since all the material goesinto the "plate, whereas, when the. gunv was lifted-off at each rollingmore or less of the glass 'ad hered tothe gun and was removed with it,

and the glass so removed was lost; Fr'lrtherwmore, the-plate is "leftwith aneven edge,

since the roughing'of the edge caused by removing the gun is avoided iOne of the main advantages of ,my improvement is,

however, the avoidance of accident an 'in jury-i to the operators."

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1. The combination of a casting table, horns, and a roller, a gunactuated by, said roller, an offset bearing member secured to the upperpart of said gun and engaging the periphery of the roller, the rear edgeof said gun shaped to be out of contact with the roller, a shoe securedto the side of the gun, the forward bottom edge of said shoe rounded, atiltable plate mounted above said table in the path of travel of thegun, said plate being normally inclined downward to receive the gun andadapted to be moved to horizontal position by the movement of the rollerwhen the roller travels up the horns.

4 2. The combination of a casting table, horns, a traveling roller, agun actuated by said roller, an offset bearing member secured to saidgun and bearing against the periphery of the roller, a shoe secured tothe side of the gun, and a tiltable plate mounted above said table inthe path of travel of the gun, said plate being normally inclineddownward to receive the gun and adapted to be moved tohorizontalposition by the movement of the roller when the rollertravelsup the horns.

3. The combination of a casting table, horns, a traveling roller, a gun,an offset bearing member carried by said gun and adapted to engage theperiphery of the roller, to sustain the gun in vertical positionthroughout the travel of the roller, and means disposed near the end ofthe forward travel of the roller and adapted to automatically lift thegun clear of the table for the purposes set forth.

4:. The combination of a casting table, horns, a traveling roller, a gunadapted to engage the periphery of the roller and to maintain contacttherewith throughout the entire forward travel of the roller, and meanslocated near the end of the forward travel of the roller and adapted toautomatically raise the gun clear of the table while the gun is incontact with the roller.

In testimony whereof, I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

CARLTON L. SMITH.

Witnesses NELLIE M. ANsUs, J OSEPH V. CARPENmR.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington. D. C.

